Search Beyond Hogwarts:

Reference Desk:
•	Beyond Hogwarts FAQ
•	Wizard to Muggle Currency Converter
•	Harry Potter Spelling Reference

Pages:  <<  <  11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ...  >  >>

Reader Comments: (Page 21)

It is important to notice that the covers of the books tell us there are "twists and turns" to the story. I wouldn't put it past JKR to put us in a new and imaginative setting.
I have found that there is always a new element introduced in each HP book. I am looking forward to this factor in the last book. Also I very much like both covers. They speak volumes about moments within the story. Personally, I like the UK version because I like to see HP with some maturity, whereas the US illustrator seems to have locked him to an eternal 11-13 yr. look.
I strongly suspect that we shall get a good look of the wizarding world outside of Hogwarts. Which be fun and refreshing.

Posted by Patti O'Neal from Marietta, GA on April 7, 2007 11:30 AM

The adult UK cover implies that the locket have more importance than I thought, even though we were led to believe that it had already been destroyed. Unless R.A.B. was ed in the attempt to destroy it, just as Dumbledore was nearly ed by the ring.

Posted by Ruth from New York on April 7, 2007 3:03 PM

I think thats a house elf and the details are just creative license. I also think that the breast plate shows a griffin of phoenix (because of the beak).

Some one mentioned dumbledore entering hogwarts on the childrens UK cover. I think thats not a bad guess but i think theres a more realistic answer. Thats not albus dumbledore, but it is dumbledore, aberforth dumbledore.

These comments have been great and i have one last radical idea for you, the castle seems (at least to me) fancier and more delicate than other depictions of hogwarts, more princessier, so, what if its beauxbatons? what if a characters in the book are recruiting students from the other magical academies to help fight voldy or maybe they're there because of fleur and bill?

note these are all about the UK childrens addition.

I think the UK adult give us more then we suspect but i'm not sure how yet.

Posted by E from Portland, ME on April 7, 2007 3:14 PM

Someone mentioned the smoke on the UK childrens cover.
I think its the forbiden forest or hagrids hut thats burning and may i point out that the trees are leafless like winter but there's no other evidence of this so maybe they were burned away?

The armor in the UK cover. The creature on the helmet could be a griffin but it has spikes, draconic wings, and many of the dragons have been depicted/described as having beaks and dragons hoard treasure.

some one also mentioned that the armor could be from all four houses (and i think the dragon helmet represnts them unified i.e. hogwarts). what if you had to (or should) unify the founders as the sorting hat sujested by remaking the armor?

I like the idea of a basilisk being under the treasure. Now maybe were looking down at them as they climb up and out of a shute type thing then the basilisk wakes up, shakes the treasure and makes them fall back down taking some treasure with them?

Posted by E from Portland, ME on April 7, 2007 3:20 PM

Some one alerted us to the fact that theres a dog reflected in the purple potions bottle in the child's UK edition.

I see it but the reflection is oddly angled like it was on the ceiling or wall. also its eyes and snarl look positively evil. I think this is not Sirius but the grim, the thing voldy fears most, .

Also the green potion bottle. there's a phoenix with its wings folded so that its hugging itself and its head bowed. It looks sick, tainted, twisted, etc.

it looks to be holding/sitting on an egg. this makes the atrice idea someone mentioned. if a 's egg makes a atrice what does a male(since its probably fox) phoenix egg make?

Joel from fort scott kansas said he thinks harry and voldy aren't competing in the US cover maybe even helping each other, and he'd hate it if harry joined the dark side.

But what if harry hadn't joined voldy but voldy had joined harry? some would say there's no difference but its just like the getting dragged into the arena verses walking in proudly thing from #6.

Now lets assume just for a moment that they are on the other side of the veil and therefor in the land of the . Now lets say that as evil as voldy is and as good as harry is and how they are (in effect even if not literally) avatars/descendents of the 2 most opposed hogwarts houses. now what if as much as they hated each other they had to help each other (i.e. against a common foe).

So this isn't the final battle but is actually in the middle (or second half just not the end) they must team up to defeat a common foe of access a common gain and at the end agree to a "you let me go i'll let you go... this time".

Posted by E from Portland, ME on April 7, 2007 4:10 PM

The thing that jumps out at me is that Harry and Hermione are jumping to the right (away or toward something, i wonder?), but Ron is jumping back and seems to be cowering, whereas Harry looks more determined, his teeth are gritted and his jaw is set, but Hermionie looks more fearful than Harry.

In answer to my own question, I think Harry and Hermione are jumping toward something, because their arms are outstretched.

I also noticed that there is a shower of coins flying up by Ron, as though someone is coming after him and he is trying to flee. He is also faling backwards to the open dooor/window/balcony (it looks as though there is sky so that would be outdoors). Could he possibly , falling off the balcony/window/door, when abandoning his friends and running to save himself? I think it unlikely, though not impossible.

Posted by Ellie from Australia on April 7, 2007 10:35 PM

If you look more closely at all of the earlier covers, you realise that they all have one thing in common. All of the covers have something new on them, something which we havent read about till then and something which is new to the story line. Whether its the circular room or the hogwarts express or the triwizard cup. Even with the cover of the halfblood prince, although we thought that it might be a pensieve (which we had been introduced to in the previous books), it turned out to be the stone basin in the cave, something we were seeing for the first time.

The same is true for the seventh book as well. The UK cover shows the trio in a place we havent yet seen before amidst a pile of treasure (again something we havent yet read about), and the US cover show us harry and voldy battling it out in an unknown place. Which leaves us with the adult edition of the UK cover, the only cover that seems to have something we have read about, the heavy gold locket which is supposed to be of slytherins and which is also one of the horcruxes.

Or is it? (luv the Quibbler!)

Why would this one cover be different from rest of the covers we've had so far. Besides ive heard that the one responsible for the adult uk covers dont get to read the books. So whatever information we have on it is wholly from JK herself. Which leads me to believe that what we see on the UK cover is not the slytherins locket. It would be very like JK to mislead us all into thinking that it is. And considering the fact the HP fans have spent the least amount of time pondering over this cover, i guess shes accomplished her goal.

So whose locket is it on the UK cover,it certainly isnt a horcrux, because if it was why didnt we have any of the other ones on the cover. What if its something of lily's, something that has more magical power that anything we've seen,something voldy wanted so desperately that he was ing to spare lily for it. I also believe this is currently in the possession of aunt petunia and she hand it over to harry once he turns 17.
And another crazy thought, if you look at the markings on the locket they look like lilys sprouting out. Does any body else see this?

Posted by claire from india on April 8, 2007 05:35 AM

if it is a house elf on the UK Children's cover, i am having some difficulty in working out which one. i am inclined to think it's Kreacher, but kreacher hates harry, so the sword could be being used as a weapon against harry, but unless we're certain on the way the sword is being held, we may have to wait until july to find out. seeing that that that the sword maybe is not being held threateningly over harry, it could be Dobby, and harry told him to remove the conspicuous and large amounts of clothing. if it is dobby, he could be trying to pull harry away from danger.

i think the reflection in harry's glasses is just the glare from all the treasure around him.

harry's eyes themselves, i'm sure were purposefully made hazel. harry's father's eyes were hazel. but, JK mentioned somewhere that harry's vivid green eyes being like his mothers would have and important role in this book.

i don't think that the trio are in gringotts, nor do i think they are in hogwarts. on the contrary (and this ties in with the houself maybe being Kreacher), i think that maybe they went back to 12 Grimmauld Place (despite harry's vow never to go back there) to maybe look through the stuff that Kreacher had saved. when exploring his den, the find a passageway that goes underground. this is where they are and kreacher has come back here since hogwarts may be closed. harry could have seen something that is out of sight of the picture, but it is in the same direction as the helmet. after all, JK can't give away too much to the artist, can she? if she told the artist exactly what he was reaching for and to put it on the cover, the picture would show a horcrux and we would have realised that he had one. he may not even be reaching for a horcrux. maybe a weapon, or maybe they dropped their wands. i don't think a basilisk comes into the story again, though. or a dragon.

the dress robes. just before harry leaves the house in privet drive, the eaters show up, so the order tell harry to grab his invisibility cloak, wand and broom, and they set off. harry has no robes with him at all, so ron lends him a set of black robes for the weading. maybe about an hour after the wedding, harry has an idea or something and leaves immediately with Ron and Hermione.

on the back i used to be sure that ice was going up the side of hogwarts, and that is was winter, explaining the absence of leaves from the trees. but now i'm sure that it's the moonlight, and that the forest was torched by -eaters. i'm sure someone must have noticed that lights are on in the castle, and that a tower is lit up, and i'm not sure whether i'm right or not, could this be the astronomy tower that dumbledore was ed on? (i'm not sure whether he's trully , but i think he is)

on the inside covers i think the patronus symbolises harry fighting like his father, and i think that's a snake in a crystal ball. maybe trelawney makes another prophecy. oo, maybe the snake means voldemort and the ball means prophecy. after all, on the inside cover of UK HBP, it showed harry and dumbledores hands clasped in a ring of fire, but they never did the unbreakable oath, and the hands were too young and old to be snape's and narcissa's, even though dumbledore's right hand should have .

Posted by Zoe from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England on April 8, 2007 11:50 AM

if it is a house elf on the UK Children's cover, i am having some difficulty in working out which one. i am inclined to think it's Kreacher, but kreacher hates harry, so the sword could be being used as a weapon against harry, but unless we're certain on the way the sword is being held, we may have to wait until july to find out. seeing that that that the sword maybe is not being held threateningly over harry, it could be Dobby, and harry told him to remove the conspicuous and large amounts of clothing. if it is dobby, he could be trying to pull harry away from danger.

i think the reflection in harry's glasses is just the glare from all the treasure around him.

harry's eyes themselves, i'm sure were purposefully made hazel. harry's father's eyes were hazel. but, JK mentioned somewhere that harry's vivid green eyes being like his mothers would have and important role in this book.

i don't think that the trio are in gringotts, nor do i think they are in hogwarts. on the contrary (and this ties in with the houself maybe being Kreacher), i think that maybe they went back to 12 Grimmauld Place (despite harry's vow never to go back there) to maybe look through the stuff that Kreacher had saved. when exploring his den, the find a passageway that goes underground. this is where they are and kreacher has come back here since hogwarts may be closed. harry could have seen something that is out of sight of the picture, but it is in the same direction as the helmet. after all, JK can't give away too much to the artist, can she? if she told the artist exactly what he was reaching for and to put it on the cover, the picture would show a horcrux and we would have realised that he had one. he may not even be reaching for a horcrux. maybe a weapon, or maybe they dropped their wands. i don't think a basilisk comes into the story again, though. or a dragon.

the dress robes. just before harry leaves the house in privet drive, the eaters show up, so the order tell harry to grab his invisibility cloak, wand and broom, and they set off. harry has no robes with him at all, so ron lends him a set of black robes for the weading. maybe about an hour after the wedding, harry has an idea or something and leaves immediately with Ron and Hermione.

on the back i used to be sure that ice was going up the side of hogwarts, and that is was winter, explaining the absence of leaves from the trees. but now i'm sure that it's the moonlight, and that the forest was torched by -eaters. i'm sure someone must have noticed that lights are on in the castle, and that a tower is lit up, and i'm not sure whether i'm right or not, could this be the astronomy tower that dumbledore was ed on? (i'm not sure whether he's trully , but i think he is)

on the inside covers i think the patronus symbolises harry fighting like his father, and i think that's a snake in a crystal ball. maybe trelawney makes another prophecy. oo, maybe the snake means voldemort and the ball means prophecy. after all, on the inside cover of UK HBP, it showed harry and dumbledores hands clasped in a ring of fire, but they never did the unbreakable oath, and the hands were too young and old to be snape's and narcissa's, even though dumbledore's right hand should have .

Posted by Zoe from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England on April 8, 2007 11:50 AM

I think that the curtains could be the veil at the Department of Mysteries that Sirius fell into. And I think he is reaching for the last Horcrux.

Posted by Liafaith from Pittsburgh, PA on April 8, 2007 2:18 PM

I'm just re-reading the HP books and am on Book 6. I've come to the part where Ron is recovering from being poisoned by the tainted mead in Slughorn's office. Harry had saved Ron by shoving a bezoar down his throat. As they sit around Ron's bed discussing what had happened, George says: "Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar." "Lucky there was one in the room," said Harry, who kept turning cold at the thought of what would have happened if he had not been able to lay hands on the little stone.
This makes me think that perhaps Harry is keeping a bezoar (or two) in the pouch he is wearing around his neck in the U.S. cover.

Posted by Rickie from Illinois on April 8, 2007 3:58 PM

Here's what I think: On the US cover wands are conspicuously absent, and my opinion is that the "wand brothers" are battling in the air, and Harry is confident because he has already won a wand battle with Voldemort. Voldemort may be scared and pushing the magic away because he knows Harry can win. Also about the US cover, there is one other cover in which an archway is pictured: US cover Book 1! It shows Harry playing Quidditch, flying through an archway. I am entirely of the belief that Harry and Voldemort are fighting on the Hogwarts Quidditch field on book 7 cover! (also kind of off subject but on US book 1 back cover it shows Dumbledore who appears to be fleeing... why would that be?)

As for the UK version, I think that if it's a house elf behind Harry it's most likely Kreacher because he was always on the borderline of proper house-elf behavior. I think it is entirely possible that it is a goblin or Kreacher fighting for Voldemort because goblins would be tempted by freedoms other wizards had been denying them and houselves could join because they wanted to or because they are under the Imperius Curse. Kreacher would definitely take an opportunity to join Voldemort. Or perhaps S.P.E.W. finally worked and all elves are free. Whoever or whatever it is may be holding that sword just because it was the weapon at hand. Or it could be Dobby fighting on Harry's side, but I don't think so because if it was J.K. would have kept Dobby in the movies. I think Godric's sword and Fawkes come to Harry's aid again because of his continued loyalty to Dumbledore. I think the UK cover and the US cover take place at two different points in the book; the UK in some sort of treasure room and the US in the Room. As for Ron being unharmed on the UK cover, I think it's simply because he's a pureblood, and was spared in some way.

The phoenix (Fawkes) / snake (Nagini) on the armor may symbolize the merging of Harry/Gryffindor and Voldemort/Slytherin. I actually think that many things on all the covers are more symbolic than direct references to the book. Maybe Dumbledore ed Fawkes to Harry.
Ron and Hermione could also be dressed up because they had come from a date or something...at the end of book 6 it suggests that they get together. But I think the wedding theory is more likely. Something to keep in mind about Bill Weasley-- he is now a werewolf so the full moon on the UK cover may be significant for that reason.

A couple of notes about UK cover- there seems to be something swirling around the highest turret of the castle that certainly does not look like a cloud. Also, I think that centaurs play a role in book 7 (possibly having to do with Firenze), because they are the only magical bretherin so far that haven't played a significant role in the plot.

Posted by Tina from Texas on April 8, 2007 5:35 PM

Pages:  <<  <  11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ...  >  >>